“Practitioners nurture interdependence more than independence because relatedness increases enjoyment. . . . People influence the future by how they live in the present, the consciousness they develop, and most importantly, the loving relationship they develop with Radha-Krishna. Devotees envision their desired future and enlist the aid of God-dess to get them there by living […]
Bhaktivinode Thakur said, “Material examples are absolutely necessary for the explanation of spiritual ideas.†“Nature as it is before our eyes must explain the spirit, or else the truth will ever remain concealed.†“All spiritual ideas are similarly pictures from the material world, because matter is the dictionary of the spirit.†There is an “unfailing […]
Hi. This video unpacks the book title and amorous devotion thus providing a summary of the rest of the series.
Brian Greene’s The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (FC) says, What is reality? We humans only have access to the internal experiences of perception and thought, so how can we be sure they truly reflect an external world? Philosophers have long recognized this problem. . . . And physicists […]
Shloka 2. Bhagavad Gita 4:11: In whatever way one worships me, I honor him in that same way, for in all their various ways men do follow my path, Partha. 19 [Saying] ‘My son, my friend, the lord of my heart’–he who has pure bhakti toward me in these bhavas, 20 who feels himself superior, […]
68 The Brajadevis are of various natures and forms; they are her [Radha’s] kayavyuha forms and causes of her rasa. 69 Without many consorts there is no enjoyment of rasa; therefore there are many manifestations of lila-companions. 70 There are, in Braj, many different kinds [of women], with many different kinds of bhava and rasa, […]
14 The purpose of this avatara [Chaitanya] was to taste the sweetness of the juice of prema-rasa, and to propagate among people the bhakti of the raga-marga. 15 Krishna, the crest-jewel of rasikas, the epitome of mercy and grace, [descended] in the desire to be the source of these two things. 16 “All the world is […]
Natural devotion includes practitioners meditating on their spiritual selves in relationship to Radha-Krishna in the eternal Braj. The identity we develop depends on our unique eternal nature. In the conditioned state, our spiritual identity remains dormant in a seedlike state. As we progress in devotional practice, that seed begins to germinate and grow in consciousness. […]
12 “For a long time I have not given the gift of prema-bhakti. Without bhakti the world has no stability. 13 In all the world they have vidhi-bhakti for me. [But] in vidhi-bhakti there is no power to gain the bhava of Braj. 14 All the world is involved in knowledge of my divinity. But […]
I’ve been quite busy managing various stages of constructing my home, and it’s coming together even better than I imagined–thanks to my wife’s imagination. Our vision of how we want to spend our elder years is manifesting, and I feel more optimistic, hopeful, and at home than ever before. At this traditional time of thanksgiving, […]